Tue, 06 Jan 2026

Tue, 06 Jan 2026 Why are more gamers than ever playing the 2000s classic RuneScape?

Millions of people have returned to the iconic online game to farm, go on quests and fight big bosses.

* RuneScape's number of paid members grew by 30% in 2025, reaching "well over a million".
* The game saw a historic milestone in 2025 with 240,000 simultaneous players, the most in its 25-year history.
* This was a peak, but at the time of writing, around 175,000 players were logged in at the same time.
* Only three games on Steam have more current players than RuneScape.
* The game is now split into two versions: RuneScape (RS3), a modern take, and Old School RuneScape, which looks like the original.
* Despite being 25 years old, Old School RuneScape is the fastest-growing MMO in the world.
* Jagex has made changes to deal with cheaters and "bots", and gave players a vote on whether to get rid of in-game purchases, which they overwhelmingly voted to remove.
* The removal of microtransactions was seen as a risk but was deemed necessary for the game's growth.
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